A bicriteria parallel machine scheduling with a learning effect of setup and removal times

In studies on scheduling problems, generally setup times and removal times of jobs have been neglected or by including those into processing times. However, in some production systems, setup times and removal times are very important such that they should be considered independent from processing times. Since, in general jobs are done according to automatic machine processes in production systems processing times do not differ according to process sequence. But, since human factor becomes influential when setup times and removal times are taken into consideration, setup times will be decreasing by repeating setup processes frequently. This fact is defined with learning effect in scheduling literature. In this study, a bicriteria m-identical parallel machines scheduling problem with a learning effect of setup times and removal times is considered. The objective function of the problem is minimization of the weighted sum of total completion time and total tardiness. A mathematical programming model is developed for the problem which belongs to NP-hard class. Results of computational tests show that the proposed model is effective in solving problems with up to 15 jobs and five machines. We also proposed three heuristic approaches for solving large jobs problems. According to the best of our knowledge, no work exists on the minimization of the weighted sum of total completion time and total tardiness with a learning effect of setup times and removal times.     

Minimizing the makespan in a single machine scheduling problems with flexible and periodic maintenance

This paper deals with a single machine scheduling problems with availability constraints. The unavailability of machine results from periodic maintenance activities. In our research, a periodic maintenance consists of several maintenance periods. We consider a machine should stop to maintain after a periodic time interval or to change tools after a fixed amount of jobs processed simultaneously. Each maintenance period is scheduled after a periodic time interval. We study the problems under deterministic environment and flexible maintenance considerations. Preemptive operation is not allowed. In addition, we propose a more reasonable flexible model for the real production settings. The objective is to minimize the makespan. The proposed problem is NP-hard in the strong sense and some heuristic algorithms are provided. The purpose is to present an efficient and effective heuristic algorithm so that it will be straightforward and easy to implement. Computational results show that the proposed algorithm first fit decreasing (DFF) performs well.     

A genetic algorithm for the unrelated parallel machine scheduling problem with sequence dependent setup times

In this work a genetic algorithm is presented for the unrelated parallel machine scheduling problem in which machine and job sequence dependent setup times are considered. The proposed genetic algorithm includes a fast local search and a local search enhanced crossover operator. Two versions of the algorithm are obtained after extensive calibrations using the Design of Experiments (DOE) approach. We review, evaluate and compare the proposed algorithm against the best methods known from the literature. We also develop a benchmark of small and large instances to carry out the computational experiments. After an exhaustive computational and statistical analysis we can conclude that the proposed method shows an excellent performance overcoming the rest of the evaluated methods in a comprehensive benchmark set of instances.     

Parallel machine scheduling with a deteriorating maintenance activity and total absolute differences penalties

In this paper we consider identical parallel machines scheduling problems with a deteriorating maintenance activity. In this model, each machine has a deteriorating maintenance activity, that is, delaying the maintenance increases the time required to perform it. We need to make a decision on when to schedule the rate-modifying activities and the sequence of jobs to minimize some objective function. We concentrate on two goals separately, namely, minimizing the total absolute differences in completion times (TADC) and the total absolute differences in waiting times (TADW). We show that the problems remain polynomially solvable under the proposed model.     

Grasp with memory-based mechanisms for minimizing total tardiness in single machine scheduling with setup times

This paper addresses the problem of scheduling jobs in a single machine with sequence dependent setup times in order to minimize the total tardiness with respect to job due dates. We propose variants of the GRASP metaheuristic that incorporate memory-based mechanisms for solving this problem. There are two mechanisms proposed in the literature that utilize a long-term memory composed of an elite set of high quality and sufficiently distant solutions. The first mechanism consists of extracting attributes from the elite solutions in order to influence the construction of an initial solution. The second one makes use of path relinking to connect a GRASP local minimum with a solution of the elite set, and also to connect solutions from the elite set. Reactive GRASP, which probabilistically determines the degree of randomness in the GRASP construction throughout the iterations, is also investigated. Computational tests for instances involving up to 150 jobs are reported, and the proposed method is compared with heuristic and exact methods from the literature.     

Single machine scheduling with a general exponential learning effect

In this paper we consider the scheduling problem with a general exponential learning effect and past-sequence-dependent (p-s-d) setup times. By the general exponential learning effect, we mean that the processing time of a job is defined by an exponent function of the total weighted normal processing time of the already processed jobs and its position in a sequence, where the weight is a position-dependent weight. The setup times are proportional to the length of the already processed jobs. We consider the following objective functions: the makespan, the total completion time, the sum of the δ ? 0th power of completion times, the total weighted completion time and the maximum lateness. We show that the makespan minimization problem, the total completion time minimization problem and the sum of the quadratic job completion times minimization problem can be solved by the smallest (normal) processing time first (SPT) rule, respectively. We also show that the total weighted completion time minimization problem and the maximum lateness minimization problem can be solved in polynomial time under certain conditions.     

Competitive online scheduling of perfectly malleable jobs with setup times

We study how to efficiently schedule online perfectly malleable parallel jobs with arbitrary arrival times on m ? 2 processors. We take into account both the linear speedup of such jobs and their setup time, i.e., the time to create, dispatch, and destroy multiple processes. Specifically, we define the execution time of a job with length p_j running on k_j processors to be p_j/k_j + (k_j − 1)c, where c > 0 is a constant setup time associated with each processor that is used to parallelize the computation. This formulation accurately models data parallelism in scientific computations and realistically asserts a relationship between job length and the maximum useful degree of parallelism. When the goal is to minimize makespan, we show that the online algorithm that simply assigns k_j so that the execution time of each job is minimized and starts jobs as early as possible has competitive ratio 4(m − 1)/m for even m ? 2 and 4m/(m + 1) for odd m ? 3. This algorithm is much simpler than previous offline algorithms for scheduling malleable jobs that require more than a constant number of passes through the job list.     

Improved approximation for non-preemptive single machine flow-time scheduling with an availability constraint

We study the problem of scheduling n non-preemptable jobs on a single machine which is not available for processing during a given time period. The objective is to minimize the sum of the job completion times. The best known approximation algorithm for this NP-hard problem has a relative worst-case error bound of 17.6%. We present a parametric O(nlog n)-algorithm H with which better worst-case error bounds can be obtained. The best error bound calculated for the algorithm in the paper is 7.4%. In a computational experiment, we test the algorithm with the performance guarantee set to 10.2%. It turns out that randomly generated instances with up to 1000 jobs can be solved with a mean (maximum) error of 0.31% (3.18%) and a mean (maximum) computation time of 0.8 (9.7) seconds.     

A branch-and-price algorithm for scheduling parallel machines with sequence dependent setup times

We consider the problem of scheduling n independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines with sequence-dependent setup times and availability dates for the machines and release dates for the jobs to minimize a regular additive cost function. In this work, we develop a new branch-and-price optimization algorithm for the solution of this general class of parallel machines scheduling problems. A new column generation accelerating method, termed “primal box”, and a specific branching variable selection rule that significantly reduces the number of explored nodes are proposed. The computational results show that the approach solves problems of large size to optimality within reasonable computational time.     

具有多个不可用时间段的单机供应链排序问题

在单机供应链排序问题中, 机器会有多个长度确定的不可用时间段,它仅可以在可用时间段内加工工件,且每个可用时间段的长度不大于给定的常数.多个完工工件可组成一批由一个容量无限制的运输工具发送给客户.问题的目标是如何 安排工件的加工、发送以及不可用时间段,以使总发送时间与总发送费用之和达到最小. 对于工件加工可恢复的情况,可在多项式时间 O(n^2) 内得到最优序. 对于工件加工不可恢复的情况,证明了问题是强NP-难的, 并提出了~2-近似算法.     

Parallel machine scheduling with nested processing set restrictions

We consider the problem of scheduling a set of n independent jobs on m parallel machines, where each job can only be scheduled on a subset of machines called its processing set. The machines are linearly ordered, and the processing set of job j   is given by two machine indexes _aj$a_j$ and _bj$b_j$; i.e., job j   can only be scheduled on machines _aj,_aj+1,…,_bj$a_j\text{,}{a}_j+1\text{,}\dots \text{,}{b}_j$. Two distinct processing sets are either nested or disjoint. Preemption is not allowed. Our goal is to minimize the makespan. It is known that the problem is strongly NP-hard and that there is a list-type algorithm with a worst-case bound of 2-1/m$2-1/m$. In this paper we give an improved algorithm with a worst-case bound of 7/4. For two and three machines, the algorithm gives a better worst-case bound of 5/4 and 3/2, respectively.     

Graph models for scheduling systems with machine saturation property

Let be a set of n independent tasks and a set of m processors. During each time instant, each processor can be used by a single task at most. A schedule is for each task an allocation of one or more time intervals to one or more processors. A schedule is said to be optimal if it minimizes the maximum completion time. We say a schedule S has the machine saturation property (MS property) if, at any time instant of task execution, all the machines are simultaneously busy. In this paper, we analyze the conditions under which a parallel scheduling system allows a schedule with the MS property. While for some simple models the analytical conditions can be easily stated, a graph model approach is required when conflicts of processor usage are present. For this reason, we define the class of saturated graphs that correspond to scheduling systems with the MS property. We present efficient graph recognition algorithms to verify the MS property directly on some classes of saturated graphs     

机器和工人都有加工资质约束的平行机排序问题研究

研究一类新型的平行机排序问题, 即在机器和工人都是必需的加工资源并且都有加工资质约束的情况下, 如何在一组平行机上进行工件排序(或称调度)以最小化时间表长C_max. 将研究工件加工时间均为单位时间的情况, 通过建立网络流模型以及采用二分搜索技术, 可以在多项式时间内精确地求解上述问题, 算法复杂度为O(n^{3}logn). 同时提供了一种基于双重动态柔性选择\,(DDFS)\,策略的启发式算法,可以获得较好的排序效果, 算法复杂度为O(n^{2}).     

Comments on “A bicriteria parallel machine scheduling with a learning effect of setup and removal times”

The purpose of this paper is to point out some errors in Eren [Applied Mathematical Modelling, 33 (2009) 1141–1150]. We also suggest some methods to fix them.     

Single-machine scheduling problems with past-sequence-dependent setup times

This paper studies single-machine scheduling problems with setup times which are proportionate to the length of the already scheduled jobs, that is, with past-sequence-dependent or p-s-d setup times. The following objective functions are considered: the maximum completion time (makespan), the total completion time, the total absolute differences in completion times and a bicriteria combination of the last two objective functions. It is shown that the standard single-machine scheduling problem with p-s-d setup times and any of the above objective functions can be solved in O(nlog n) time (where n is the number of jobs) by a sorting procedure. It is also shown that all of our results extend to a “learning” environment in which the p-s-d setup times are no longer linear functions of the already elapsed processing time due to learning effects.     

Heuristic for a new multiobjective scheduling problem

We consider a telecommunication problem in which the objective is to schedule data transmission to be as fast and as cheap as possible. The main characteristic and restriction in solving this multiobjective optimization problem is the very limited computational capacity available. We describe a simple but efficient local search heuristic to solve this problem and provide some encouraging numerical test results. They demonstrate that we can develop a computationally inexpensive heuristic without sacrificing too much in the solution quality.     

关于带运输的单机调度在线问题的研究

本文研究了带运输机的单机在线调度问题。问题假设工件实时在线到达,系统中有一台运输机,该运输机每次最多运输$k$个工件,每个工件需要先在单机上完成加工,然后再被运输机运往目的地,问题的优化目标为最小化完工时间,即所有工件被加工完并且运往目的地的时间最短。针对该问题,作者研究了工件满足一致性条件的模型,并且基于贪心思想给出了竞争比为$\frac{\sqrt{5}+1}{2}$的在线算法,并且证明该算法是最优在线算法。     

关于带运输的单机调度在线问题的研究

本文研究了带运输机的单机在线调度问题。问题假设工件实时在线到达,系统中有一台运输机,该运输机每次最多运输$k$个工件,每个工件需要先在单机上完成加工,然后再被运输机运往目的地,问题的优化目标为最小化完工时间,即所有工件被加工完并且运往目的地的时间最短。针对该问题,作者研究了工件满足一致性条件的模型,并且基于贪心思想给出了竞争比为$\frac{\sqrt{5}+1}{2}$的在线算法,并且证明该算法是最优在线算法。     

Multi-objective genetic algorithm for single machine scheduling problem under fuzziness

This paper presents a new multi-objective approach to a single machine scheduling problem in the presence of uncertainty. The uncertain parameters under consideration are due dates of jobs. They are modelled by fuzzy sets where membership degrees represent decision maker’s satisfaction grade with respect to the jobs’ completion times. The two objectives defined are to minimise the maximum and the average tardiness of the jobs. Due to fuzziness in the due dates, the two objectives become fuzzy too. In order to find a job schedule that maximises the aggregated satisfaction grade of the objectives, a hybrid algorithm that combines a multi-objective genetic algorithm with local search is developed. The algorithm is applied to solve a real-life problem of a manufacturing pottery company.     

有两个服务等级的平行机排序问题

对有两个服务等级的平行机排序问题的m台机情形,证明了修正的MF算法的最坏情况界不超过4/3 (1/2)~k,其中k是算法中预先给定的迭代次数.而已有的算法仅为2-1/(m-1),从而大大改进了已有文献中的结果.